Construction of New Residence Hall Begins With Beam-Signing Ceremony

PUBLISHED ON Apr 26 2017

It was out with the shovels and in with the Sharpies on May 2 when Butler University held a beam-signing ceremony to dedicate the construction of the new 647-bed student residence hall that will replace the old Schwitzer Hall at 750 W. Hampton Drive.

Instead of a traditional groundbreaking ceremony, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University signed a beam that will be used in the construction of the four-story facility. The event also showcased items from a time capsule that had been placed in a cornerstone of Schwitzer Hall more than 60 years ago.

The new housing, to be built in partnership with American Campus Communities (ACC) and open in fall 2018, will feature suite-style living units, with two double-occupancy rooms linked by a shared lavatory. Amenities will include gaming alcoves, study rooms, a fitness room, an interior bike room, and a large meeting room that supports the residents, student organizations, Greek chapters, and campus programming.

The second floor will include a faculty office suite with a lounge space, a kitchen with a communal table, a 10-person conference room, and an individual private lounge. There will be eight residential study lounges—some with small conference rooms—and large neighborhood lounges, as well as a 24-person study room.

The outdoor facilities will feature a study lounge, a quiet courtyard with a rain garden, an active courtyard with a fire pit, a pedestrian walk, bike path, bike racks, and an open lawn to the west of the building.

“The addition of this new facility is a critical step toward advancing Butler’s educational mission through superior campus amenities, and the ultimate realization of Butler’s 2020 Vision as an innovative national leader in undergraduate residential education,” Butler President James M. Danko said. “By the time this new housing opens, we will have added almost 1,300 new beds to campus in two years and given prospective students yet another reason to choose Butler.”

As with Fairview House, the 633-bed residence hall that opened in fall 2016, American Campus Communities will build and maintain the new facility, while Butler will provide staff to manage the building. The Resident Assistants (RA’s), the Residence Life Coordinator, and the Faculty in Residence will all be Butler personnel.

“By working with ACC, we are able to concentrate on our core mission: educating our students,” Butler Vice President of Finance and Administration Bruce Arick said. “ACC’s investment allows Butler to focus and prioritize resources toward the development of new, state-of-the-art academic space to better serve students. We have hundreds of millions of dollars of construction and development that we’ve prioritized for the sciences, a new school of business building, and more. We couldn’t afford to do those projects and invest in our student housing.”

“We want to make sure our infrastructure is the quality we need to support our other services,” Danko said. “We took a giant step in that direction when we opened Fairview House, and our progress will continue with this new residence hall.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822

Construction of New Residence Hall Begins With Beam-Signing Ceremony

Instead of a traditional groundbreaking ceremony, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University signed a beam that will be used in the construction of the four-story facility.

The $40 million building, which will open in August 2016, will span from Butler Way to Blue Ridge Road along Sunset Avenue, in what previously had been a parking lot.

“The most important part of this project is the improvement of our housing stock," President James M. Danko said. "Now, housing is going to be an extra added attraction to go along with world-class education."

The new residence is the result of a partnership between Butler University and American Campus Communities. Under the agreement, American Campus will build and maintain the facility, while Butler will provide staff to manage the building.

Sunset Student Residences will feature rooms set up in pods of three to four bedrooms, with no more than two students in any room. Each room, which shared, is configured to have a divider to provide more privacy. There will be a bathroom for every bedroom, and each student will have his or her own vanity and sink. In addition, each suite will have a kitchenette and furnished living room area.

In addition, the facility will have a large multipurpose room that is being described as “a living room for the campus.” The room will be used for conferences, events, and other gatherings, as well as studying.

Other amenities will include a fireplace and social lounge in the connecting area between the two buildings, an outdoor kitchen and barbecue, a lounge on each floor (some for recreation, some for study), and a small cardio-fitness center.

This effort represents the first phase of a comprehensive student housing master plan that will address the University’s overall housing inventory. The scope of the master planning process encompasses the renovation or redevelopment of approximately 1,200-1,500 student beds and related student amenity space in Ross Hall, Schwitzer Hall, and Residential College.

By establishing a long-term partnership with American Campus, Butler will be able to dramatically upgrade its housing options, while maintaining the financial flexibility needed to invest in future academic facilities.

American Campus Communities President and CEO Bill Bayless praised Butler's leadership for its efforts.

"With your vision and your leadership and the commitment to quality and doing things right that you all have brought to this process, we're honored to be your partner," he said. "Our only goal will be to exceed every expectation that you and your students have for this facility."

American Campus Communities––the nation’s largest developer, owner, and manager of high-quality student housing communities––has completed similar projects at more than 40 universities, including Princeton, the University of Southern California, Texas A&M, and Arizona State.

Examples of their work can be seen at http://www.americancampus.com.

Since 1996, American Campus has developed more than $4.3 billion in properties and acquired more than $4.8 billion in student housing assets. The company has been awarded the development of more than 70 on-campus projects, in addition to 26 projects developed off campus.

Schwitzer is Gone. Long Live Schwitzer.

BY Todd Leone

PUBLISHED ON Aug 01 2017

Schwitzer Residence Hall came to life in 1956 and for 60 years was called "home" to many Butler alumni and current students. Demolition of Schwitzer Hall was completed March 1, 2017, and construction of the new residence hall is currently underway. Although Schwitzer Hall has been removed physically, its ashes will be spread throughout campus and it will continue to serve a relevant purpose throughout the Butler University grounds.In the early stages of construction, bed frames, mattresses, chairs, and desks were removed from Schwitzer and donated to Goodwill. Existing doors, hardware, and equipment were also removed. These will aid in repairs for other Residence Halls throughout campus. The original stone entryway arches and sections of the building facade were removed and preserved. These parts will be incorporated elsewhere on campus. Thus, beloved Schwitzer Hall will continue to live beyond its useful life.

As Schwitzer's walls and floors were taken down, its remains began to fill the site of 750 West Hampton Drive.

As part of the LEED building process, all existing brick, concrete, and stone will be recycled onsite and used as backfill for the new residence hall. The bones of Schwitzer will continue to serve a purpose as the foundation for the new facility.

Shiel Sexton Company is General Contractor for the new $30 million residence hall, which is being developed by American Campus Communities. This is the second phase in the new frontier of modern student housing, a continuance of Fairview House. The new student housing will contain 660 beds in apartment-style units, a fitness center, study lounges, game rooms, a large community meeting space, and much more.

In the end, this traditional residence hall gives way to a modern facility, but the ashes of Schwitzer Hall will lay the foundation for a new place that will soon be called "home" to many at Butler University.

Holocaust Survivor Eva Kor To Class of 2015: Never Give Up

BY

PUBLISHED ON May 09 2015

Holocaust survivor Eva Kor advised Butler University’s Class of 2015 on Saturday, May 9, that they should never give up on themselves or their dreams.

Kor, who spent from May 1944 to January 27, 1945, in the Auschwitz concentration camp, told the 914 graduates and near-capacity crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse that she was able to endure horrific medical experiments at the hands of Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele because she promised herself “to do anything and everything in my power” to make sure she and her sister, Miriam, survived. (To see the commencement ceremony, go to www.butler.edu/live/.)

In her mind, she said, she pictured how they would look when they finally walked out of the camp.

They dealt with rats, lice, and starvation—both of food and human kindness. She recalled one experiment where Mengele injected her multiple times and she ended up in a hospital. When he saw her there later, he said, “Too bad she’s so young. She only has two weeks to live.”

Kor said that in the years since, she learned to forgive the Nazis as well as “everyone who every hurt me.” She told the story of writing a letter of forgiveness to a Nazi doctor 50 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, which she called “an act of self-healing and self-liberation.”

“Fifty years of pain was lifted from my shoulders,” she said.

Kor also urged the parents of the graduates to “give their children an extra hug and kiss for all the children who have no parents to hug and kiss.” With that, her son Alex, a 1983 Butler graduate, walked over and hugged her.

Kor and longtime Butler benefactor Jean T. Wildman each received honorary doctorates. Wildman, in brief remarks, said that “never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be standing here.” She said she was delighted to have watched Butler grow from a couple of buildings into what it is today.

The newest Butler graduates include 222 from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 220 from the College of Business, 203 from the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 96 from the College of Communication, 85 from the College of Education, and 88 from the Jordan College of the Arts.

Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, who was murdered by ISIS on November 16, 2014, was awarded a degree posthumously. His parents, Ed and Paula, accepted the diploma on his behalf and received a standing ovation.

The faculty speaker, College of Business Associate Professor of Management Craig Caldwell, told the graduates that money and possessions are not the key to happiness, and he urged them to have empathy and take care of their community.

Class of 2016 President William Grabb described his fellow graduates as “motivated, passionate, and hard-working” students who earned this day.

“You are about to be handed your diploma,” he said. “But you know it was not just handed to you.”